Nintendo pins hopes of a return to greatness on new Switch console

News Desk

Nintendo has revealed details of its forthcoming Nintendo Switch games console, as the company eyes a return to its former greatness.

The Switch combines a traditional static console with a portable handheld unit and detachable controllers, which can be unclipped from the main body for gaming on the go.

Previously known under the codename Nintendo NX, the Switch will face stiff competition from Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro and Microsoft’s Xbox One S.

The Japanese gaming giant dominated the sector during the ’80s and ’90s with its enormously popular Super Nintendo, GameBoy and Nintendo 64 consoles, but has struggled to compete in recent years.

While the Wii, released in 2006, sold more than 101m units worldwide, 2012’s Wii U has barely sold 13m.

Nintendo was criticised for being slow to harness the power of mobile gaming, which has become a multi-billion dollar industry in the past decade.

The company has recently made amends for such an oversight, announcing smartphone-optimised versions of Super Mario and Pokemon titles, the former of which is due for release in December.

Nintendo announced an operating loss of 5.1bn yen (£39m) in July, with year-on-year net sales down 31 per cent to 62bn yen (£479m). The unprecedented success of Pokemon Go, which Nintendo developed in partnership with software company Niantec, was released after the end of the financial quarter.